


Maple

by corgasbord



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Trans Character, it's mentioned so i'm tagging it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 16:55:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgasbord/pseuds/corgasbord
Summary: Shuuichi spends a morning raking leaves with Kaito.





	Maple

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a little something silly i wrote to get into the autumn spirit! i love these boys a whole lot...
> 
> ([tumblr](http://corgiboard.tumblr.com/post/166255355415/maple) link)

Brittle leaves crunch beneath Shuuichi’s feet as he steps backwards through the moist grass, dragging a rake in front of him. The tool gathers them all in its wake, pulling them into clusters that catch on its prongs and slow its progress. Puffing hard enough for his breaths to be visible in the air, Shuuichi tugs the rake forward a few more times until it meets the large pile of leaves already growing off to the side of the yard.

He stops for a moment then, propping himself up against the handle of the rake as he catches his breath. Tiny clouds spill from his lips and dissipate in seconds, but he doesn't feel as cold as he probably should. The flush of exertion on his cheeks is enough to keep out the chill.

Shuuichi doesn't believe that he's cut out for doing manual labor. In fact, if it were up to him, he would be curled up indoors with a book and a cup of coffee. He’s only out working on a Sunday morning because Kaito had asked him to help clear the leaves from his grandparents’ backyard, and Shuuichi is nothing if not loyal.

He looks over to see his boyfriend still dutifully raking away, collecting his own pile of leaves on the opposite side of the yard. Kaito is far more suited to this kind of thing, Shuuichi thinks. Kaito is already fit. Kaito likes being outside. They don’t have either of those things in common, and even though they’re dating Shuuichi still has to wonder why Kaito chose to rely on him of all people to help out.

Kaito happens to glance up and lock eyes with him, causing Shuuichi to freeze, startled. “Oi, Shuuichi! What’re you slacking off for?”

“S- Sorry,” Shuuichi stammers, wrapping his gloved hands around the handle of the rake again.

“C’mon, we’re almost done,” Kaito says, shooting Shuuichi an encouraging grin. “Now ain’t the time for breaks.”

“Right,” Shuuichi says, getting back to work. He can only be glad that the summer heat has long since faded, because if it hadn’t he’s pretty sure he’d collapse.

Shuuichi likes autumn. If he had to pick a favorite season it would probably be winter, but autumn is lovely in its own way. The trees exchange their verdant greens for maple reds and oranges, cloaking themselves in fire before they shrivel up completely. It’s an unfittingly pretty lead-in to the memento mori of winter. It helps that the temperature drops, too - the more layers he's able to wear, the less often he needs to bind. He doubts he’d be able to do this if he were wearing a binder.

He pulls the last bundle of stray leaves into the pile, then lets the rake fall out of his hands with a relieved sigh. Brushing his bangs out of his eyes, he sweeps his gaze over the yard again to see Kaito finishing on his side. “Momota-kun, I finished,” he calls, lifting one sore arm to wave at him.

Kaito lifts his head and smiles, dropping his own rake. “Oh, hell yeah! Nice work, bro,” he says, dropping his own rake. “Now for the fun part!”

“The fun part…?”

He doesn’t get an answer before Kaito comes barrelling in his direction. With a startled shout, Shuuichi reflexively stumbles to the side just in time for Kaito to fling himself onto the freshly raked pile. A flurry of leaves flies up around him, and he lies there laughing like an idiot as they flutter back down onto his prone body, leaving Shuuichi to watch in open-mouthed shock for a few seconds.

When he recovers his composure, the first thing he does is blurt, “What on earth was _that_ for?!”

Kaito stares up at him, eyes sparkling with childlike euphoria. “Whaddaya mean, what was it for? It was for fun. Y’know, just because.”

“But I just finished raking all those,” Shuuichi protests. He wants to sound frustrated, but it’s hard when Kaito’s all but beaming up at him. Kaito carries an infectious sort of happiness with him, he’s noticed.

“So? I didn’t mess them up that much.” Kaito rises languidly and stretches his arms above his head, clearly satisfied with himself. “Besides, the best part about raking leaves is getting to jump into them when you’re done.”

There are several leaves stuck to the back of Kaito’s coat, and Shuuichi immediately moves to pluck them off with an exasperated huff. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Am not,” Kaito says. “There’s just something about seeing a big pile of leaves that makes you want to jump into them, y’know?”

“I don’t know, actually,” Shuuichi deadpans. “And I hope you don't go doing that in other people's yards.”

“I don't,” Kaito assures him. “I mean, I did once when I was a kid, but I got in trouble for it, so.” 

Shuuichi rolls his eyes. He notices part of a leaf sticking up from between Kaito's gelled locks and reaches up to pick that out, too.

“You should try it, too,” Kaito continues, trying to throw Shuuichi a smile over his shoulder. “Just for the hell of it.”

Shuuichi raises an eyebrow. He looks down at the displaced pile of leaves at his feet, then back at Kaito, lips twitching. It's completely absurd, he thinks - as absurd in its pointlessness as everything else Kaito does. It’s equally absurd how endearing Shuuichi finds it.

“Yeah. All right,” he says at last. He dusts off Kaito’s back once for good measure. “Just once, though. And you have to rake the leaves back up.”

“Fine, fine,” Kaito agrees with a dismissive wave of his hand. Then he points to the pile on the opposite side of the yard. “Go for it, then. Get a running start and just, like, dive right in.”

Shuuichi has to chuckle at that. “I know, I can manage that much.”

With that, he squares his shoulders and bolts across the yard to throw himself into the leaves with a little shout. He feels absolutely ridiculous, but the exhilaration that wells in his chest as the leaves crinkle beneath his body and twirl in the air around him is undeniable. A surprised giggle begins to bubble in his throat, only to be cut off by the pounding of feet on the ground and the crash of another body next to his.

Shuuichi rolls onto his side with a startled grunt to see Kaito laughing next to him, watching fragile vermilion fragments circle in the air above his head. Altogether it’s enough to make Shuuichi flush giddily, and before long he’s laughing too. He can’t help it. Around Kaito, laughter comes as naturally as breathing.

“This is dumb,” Shuuichi pants as he finally tries to recollect himself, still grinning ear-to-ear.

“You seemed like you were having fun, though,” Kaito says, just as breathless and just as stupidly happy.

“Okay,” Shuuichi admits, “I can sort of see the appeal.”

“Sooo…” Kaito gives him a hopeful look. “Wanna do it again?”

“Not a chance.” Shuuichi sits up and begins to brush himself off. “You need to rake them back up, remember?”

Kaito groans and goes limp on the ground, letting the remainder of the floating leaves descend on him. Shaking his head, Shuuichi gets to his feet and extends a hand down for Kaito to take. “Come on, get up.”

Kaito reaches to grasp Shuuichi’s hand, and Shuuichi detects the mischief in Kaito’s eyes a second too late. Kaito grabs him and tugs him down, securing Shuuichi’s smaller frame tight against his chest and drawing an almost indignant squawk from him. “ _Momota-kun_ -”

“Just relax,” Kaito says. “We can get up in a minute, okay?” 

Shuuichi’s brows knit, but he doesn’t try to peel himself away. “This is dumb,” he repeats.

“Nah. You like it.” Kaito kisses the top of his head.

Shuuichi doesn’t have a good counter-argument for that, so instead he simply opts to sigh and let his head drop onto Kaito’s shoulder. Now he doesn’t register the cold for an entirely new reason, and as he warms up to the tips of his ears he has to acknowledge, however begrudgingly, that Kaito is right. This is dumb and absurd and pointless, and maybe it’s not so bad after all.


End file.
